Two masked men posing as delivery riders targeted a Nawaz Sharif car in London and a Mercedes-Benz parked outside his Avenfield apartments in central London, damaging the vehicles and removing parts. The former prime minister is in the British capital on a week-long visit for medical check-ups with his sons Hasan and Hussain Nawaz. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) officials have called the episode a suspected politically motivated attack, while Metropolitan Police officers are investigating.
What the CCTV shows
Footage released on X by PML-N Youth Wing leader Khurram Butt shows two people arriving on motorcycles around midnight, wearing masks and gloves. According to Butt, the suspects removed four items from the vehicles and damaged at least one rear-view mirror. The BMW and Mercedes-Benz are estimated together at about £200,000, though the scale of any financial loss has not been independently established.
About seven to ten other cars were parked on the same road in the footage. Only the two vehicles linked to Nawaz were visibly targeted. The cars are normally kept inside the Avenfield property—among the Nawaz Sharif London flats—but renovation work has limited usual parking, so they were left on the public road. Butt said the CCTV had been given to the Metropolitan Police.
Political claims and the police probe
PML-N UK President Ahsan Dar said the incident looked politically motivated rather than ordinary vehicle crime. He pointed to the selective focus on Nawaz’s cars despite other vehicles nearby. The suspects’ identities and motives have not been established, and there is no independently confirmed police finding that the attack was political.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- July 2018: Protesters tried to force their way into the family’s Avenfield residence; police were called and arrests followed clashes between rival supporters.
- May 2021: Four unidentified men, three masked, reportedly tried to enter Hassan Nawaz’s London office while Nawaz was inside; the matter was reported to police.
- April 2022: A confrontation outside Nawaz’s London office left a security guard injured; police confirmed an assault complaint.
- March–April 2023: Three vehicles were allegedly registered in Nawaz’s name at Avenfield without his consent; the DVLA later removed his details after a fraud probe, and TfL issued a penalty notice on 11 April 2023 linked to one of those cars near Buckingham Palace.
- May 2023: A vehicle linked to Nawaz was damaged in central London when a protester threw coffee at it and kicked it during a confrontation involving Black Lives Matter protesters and police.
- Latest incident: Masked suspects targeted the BMW and Mercedes outside Avenfield; a Nawaz Sharif car in London was among those hit, and police are investigating.
Aasan alfaaz mein
London mein Nawaz Sharif ki BMW aur Mercedes par do mask wale logon ne hamla kiya. Unhon ne gariyon se kuch cheezen nikaali aur mirror tor diya. Police case dekh rahi hai; abhi yeh saaf nahi ke yeh siyasi hamla tha ya choron ka kaam. Aam Pakistani ke liye yeh is baat ki nishani hai ke bari siyasatdanon ki security bahar bhi masla ban sakti hai.
